OCR Text |
Show By LE ANN ALLEN 50 Persons met with the county commission this "'Protest rising property taxes. HVE signed our rights away and made a W f the county." said Marleen Skabelund, vice riini,tan ' ,he Davis Coun,y Taxpayers Action iViatt' Farm'"gton, acting as spokesman, said Srtl,. 'wam 'get personalities involved. "We are not ; iSa M ?ole anyone's political interest though I un-' un-' .M there are some who intend to run for office," he emKED Ihat lotions be directed to Commis-loon Commis-loon F'lnt " ne could answer, if not the question to Commissioner C.E. Moss and to Com--Hy Stanley Smoot only if the first two could not "in2iquestion was' "why does anyne in svern" iaij' a 30 percent increase this year over last ftM'sSIONER Flint began an explanation that j ude 'he fact that the county wasn't taking a 30 Wncrease, Mr. Oviatt said he did not want an SSo,,- Philosophy or background that didn't apply 'iii 3thou8h the average taxpayer may pay about ts Percent more, it is due to a shift, not an I ' " was further explained during the meeting. tjf NTY and cities are tied to a limit of 6 percent P'us an increase on new growth. The school i district and Weber Basin Water District are not bound by this, in fact are required, by law, to escalate tax intake. "The average taxpayer will find his mill levy down 30 percent but his taxes up 30 percent," said a commissioner. commis-sioner. WHEN THE commission reminded the group that the reappraisal and resulting increases was required by the law and the State Tax Commission, a group member said "we don't like allaying blame and hiding behind skirt's when it is in your laps." The group then applauded their spokesman. One commissioner reminded the spokesman that he "could hear alright and it wasn't necessary to raise voices." MUCH OF the increase is due to a shift from public utilities and personal property such as boats and campers, which will not be increased this year. Don Kenniston asked if it was fair that public utilities such as telphone and Mountain Fuel would pay less since their appraised value was not increased. "THE UTILITIES have threatened to sue the State Tax Commission," said Commissioner Flint. "The state law reads all property should pay 30 percent of their assessed valuation. Utilities have been at 28 percent while others have been around 14 percent in past years." Another question asked by the group was if any legal action was contemplated by the county against the state usurping responsibility for appraisal. SECTION III of Senate Bill 20 was quoted stating that the State Tax Commission shall perform the assessment at a cost computed on the basis of service rendered." "We think it is circumventing responsibility of the county assessor to the people who elected him," said Mrs. Skabelund. "We think the county assessor is as capable of picking qualified assessors as those of the state." "THE STATE assessors came in according to an agreement and contract as in every other county in the state. They follow the rules of the State Legislature," said Commissioner Moss. "Why are you signing away our rights? You are our elected officials. The people are so far away from their government," continued Mrs. Skabelund. THE GROUP asked the commission to fight for more than the 14 percent reduction that has been proposed. "If you will fight for us you will see more backing than you have ever seen in your life," said a group member. Several derogatory comments were made about the assessors. "They are bureaucrats who go up and down the street." A MAN said they had appraised his property without even knowing its location. A woman said they had appraised her home showing a finished basement with bath though it had none. The group said they didn't want to see charts though the charts showed that Davis County's taxes have been kept low while neighboring counties have risen. Davis County is also the first county to protest the tax appraisal. "WE ARE the first county to speak out," said Commissioner Com-missioner Moss. "I have taken a poll," said Mr. Oviatt. "It is unanimous that even if it costs a little more we will back you up and tell those people to stay out of Davis County, we don't want them here." "WE ARE obligated to follow the law," said Deputy Attorney Milton Hess. The agreement was signed before his term began. He continued, "we may be together on philosophy but when the legislature establishes a law we must follow. We didn't agree to unreasonable increases and didn't agree to discrimination between us and Weber County. WE ARE ready to seek the court's determination hoping hop-ing the Supreme Court would act but they said you go back through District Court." Mr. Oviatt asked-"just because there is a law do you have to support it? If the law said to murder would you?" "1 BELIEVE in obedience to the laws of the land," said Commissioner Smoot. That is the process. We have voiced dissatisfaction and will be there to help get the law changed through the legislature." A group quoted the early Prophet Joseph Smith-"my people should not be in bondage." That is what we are coming to," he said. Several people recommended a seminar taught by Cleon Skousen. "WE ARE fighting almost daily. We are dissatisfied but we will not sit here and say we will break the law. We will help get it changed. We will work through the legislature," said Commissioner Smuot. Mr. Oviatt said he would like to see every taxpayer pay under protest and seek for a refund. He asked the group to sign the recall petition. "Let's yank these people out of here," he said. |